Friday, July 20, 2012 4:15:10 PM America/New_York

Ten Thousand Villages Recognized as “Best in Class” by Interactive Media Awards TenThousandVillages.com was one of 3 out of 182 websites to receive this honor

This week, Ten Thousand Villages, the country’s oldest and largest fair trade retailer, earned top honors for their e-commerce website at this year’s Interactive Media Awards (IMA).

“Best in Class is the highest award bestowed by IMA, and we are absolutely thrilled to have been recognized among this elite group of businesses,” said Chris Fenwick, e-commerce manager for Ten Thousand Villages. Other applicants included Disney, Kraft Foods and Four Seasons Resorts. Ten Thousand Villages partnered with CorraTech, an e-commerce development company to create their award-winning site.

Each entry is judged from an expert panel of industry professionals. The judges used a points-based scoring system where each entry was scored using five specific criteria, with a score from 0 – 100 awarded for each criterion. Ten Thousand Villages’ website scored a total of 481 out of 500 available points.

“We recognize that we are not quite like other retailers. We are a mission-based retailer, and that mission drives every single decision we make,” Fenwick said. “Our objective for this site was to build a world-class online retail shopping experience, and to connect our online shoppers to the artisans we serve around the world.”

For 65 years, Ten Thousand Villages has been establishing long-term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans lack opportunities for stable income. The commitment to support artisans around the globe is strengthened through fair trade compensation practices including cash advances and prompt payments.